Forgotten But Not Alone
by Lucas27
Summary: Ever since his birth, Naruto Namikaze has noticed a difference between him and his sisters. They have the fox's chakra, while he has the soul. This difference changes everything for Naruto. With his parents, Minato and Kushina, busy training his sisters, he'd have to find a way to solve his problems on his own. Naruto Neglect
1. Chapter 1

**What up, back again. This is going to be a Naruto Neglect story. There will be a few things different from the cannon but I'll get to explaining most of them by next chapter. If you have any questions, ask. This chapter will just be a quick intro of the Kyuubi attack and a basic start.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (Shocking)**

Minato flashed into battle.

"Look, it's the Yondaime!" A few cheers came with the announcement, but Minato payed no notice to them. He surveyed the battlefield in front of him. The Kyuubi was tearing through the city, no doubt being controlled by the Uchiha that had ripped it out of his wife's stomach.

It turned its head and glared one massive eye at him and grinned. The moment it made eye contact, the killer intent intensified to a level he had never felt before.

 **"Minato, I have seen plenty of you while enchained in my past host. It will be a pleasure to rip you to shreds."** The fox stated. It started sprinting towards him, plowing over buildings in its path like toy blocks. He motioned for his Anbu guard to appear behind him.

"Get as many civilians as you can out of here. Tell Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Tsunade to meet me at the grounds. They'll know where." Minato ordered.

"But Hokage-sama-" The Anbu wasn't able to finish. "Go." They nodded and disappeared in swish of the wind. He turned his attention back to the fox in front of him.

"If you know so much about me, you should know how fast I am. Try and keep up." Minato stated while waiting for the demon to get closer and closer. Just before its outstretched claw pierced him, he teleported behind it. The beast immediately noticed and quickly turned around. Then, Minato just ran.

He jumped from ruin to ruin in an attempt to avoid the giant monster behind him. Each time he saw a body, he jumped down, grabbed it and teleported it away. However, the fox wasn't a fool. Each time he returned back, its paw was waiting over him ready to kill. Somehow, he managed to elude its clutches every time.

Minato glanced back at the beast while sprinting forward. Its fangs were bared in a giant grin, no doubt enjoying its game. Buts that's all it was, a game. It was toying with him, playing with its food. At any moment it could turn away from him and aim its attacks back on the village, he could not let that happen. He needed to buy time for the others. He debated summoning the toads to help, but using that much chakra wouldn't leave him with enough left to teleport the giant fox away. Same if he tried teleporting it away, he could only do that once and it had to be at the perfect time. For now he could only hope it would focus on him.

It continued like this for a while, Minato tried leading it to the outskirts of the village but being the demon it was, if often got distracted trying to destroy more buildings and wreak havoc.

The fox then leaped forward and flattened the building he was just standing on, but stopped immediately after. It gave him a quick grin before looked at the village behind it.

 **"We'll continue this little game after Yondaime. Maybe you'll have a little more fire knowing that you'll be avenging your entire village."** It opened its maw and started forming chakra in its mouth. Minato's eyes fell down, he didn't buy enough time. He knew what he had to do. He had prepared the Reaper Death Seal, but hoped he would not have to use it.

He closed his eyes and began the hand signs, praying that his children would have a good life ahead of them. Yet, before he could finish them, he felt a familiar pull, one of his kunai was thrown into the ground. He couldn't keep his mouth from forming a grin.

"Hey Fox, lets have a little change in scenery." He yelled out. He then threw one of his special kunai over the fox and teleported away, pulling the demon fox with him.

He quickly took note of the ground around him. While he could barely make out anything in the dark of night, he could see a giant seal that was laid out and that at 3 of the corners sat Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Tsunade. He jumped to the last corner, sparing a quick glance of the triplets behind him, before clasping his hands together in the Tiger hand sign.

" _Fūinjutsu: Demon Splitting Technique."_ **(Couldn't think of a better name, my bad)** The ink painted across the ground light up in a brilliant flash and the demon fox let out a roar of pain. Parts of the ink, now glowing like lava, began to peel off the ground and attach itself to different parts of the fox. First the tails, and then slowly moving its way up the fox's body, immobilizing it as it went up. **(He couldn't summon the toads because then he wouldn't have enough chakra to transport the fox and do the sealing. Same with trying to transport it to some other place. He only had enough to transport it once)**

 **"You! You've made a permanent enemy Namikaze. How perfect that right after I fight you, I get to meet your children. I'll make their lives a living hell!"** The beast let out one last laugh before lighting up and splitting into 3 swirling balls of light.

The largest and most impressive of the 3 went into the red haired girl. Next, the brightest of the 3, one which lit up the area around it like the sun, went into the yellow haired girl. Finally, the last one went into the small red haired boy **(I felt for this kind of story to work and people to forget that he is Minatos son, he cant look exactly the same. With a slight change like hair color, he would no longer look like a mini Minato)**. This one may not have been as bright or big as the others, but it radiated a sense of darkness and evil which greatly overshadowed them.

Once the sealing was complete, the seals on the ground dimmed out and the field returned to darkness. Minato ignored the exhaustion he felt and ran over to the 3 children. He first grabbed the red haired girl.

"Machi," He said lovingly, she opened her eyes and smiled at the sound of his voice. She had violet eyes which sparkled as she reached her tiny arm out for his face. He then reached to pick up the other daughter. When she felt herself being lifted, she too looked up and he saw that she had violet eyes as well.

"Aiko, you both have eyes just like your mom. Luckily you, Aiko, got my hair." He joked as he let out a sob. He couldn't help but begin to tear up in joy as the others appeared behind him. He turned around and handed Menma to Tsunade and Mito to Jiraiya. He then reached down and picked up the final baby. His hair color was red and his most unique feature were the 3 whisker marks on each cheek. Once he was picked up, the baby opened its eyes to reveal a blue just like his, yet it showed no emotion, just stared. He feel his heart stop as fear crept into his mind. Had the seal failed? Finally he built up the courage to say.

"Naruto," At this the baby lightened up and sent a brilliant smile at Minato. Minato felt all the pressure building up in his chest go away all at once. It worked.

"Kushina is ok, she was roughed up a bit but that's to be expected. Her Uzumaki vitality will help her to a quick and full recovery. Now, the more pressing matter is the babies. Lets get them to the hospital where we can properly help them." Tsunade stated.

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

The next day the Hokage stood atop the Hokage building looking at the ruined village in front of him. In front of him stood the citizens of the Leaf awaiting his announcement.

"Yesterday, we were attacked. However, no enemy can quell the Will of Fire." At this the crowd broke into cheers.

"I can now proudly present our saviors, Machi Namikaze, the holder of the 9 Tailed Fox's Yang Chakra, and Aiko Namikaze, the holder of the 9 Tailed Fox's Yin Chakra." He then presented the sleeping babies to Konoha.

"The Soul of the Fox was defeated and dispersed once we ripped and sealed its chakra away from it." This brought about an even bigger roar of applause. Little did they know that that very fox sat in the belly of a small red haired baby boy who was sleeping alone in an empty house, oblivious to the world around him.

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

In front of him stood 4 people in the family grounds for their first day of training. One was his Tou-san, another his Kaa-san, but everyone already knew who the Hokage and his wife were. Then again, everyone also knew the hero sisters as well.

One was Machi Namikaze. At 6 years old, she was a cute, little thing. She looked like a carbon copy of her mother at that age. She had her mother's hair and eyes, but with her father's patience. However, once she reached the end of that patience, she could explode in a brilliant manner.

The other was Aiko Namikaze. She too had her mother's eyes, but with her father's yellow hair that she liked to put in a ponytail. She tended to complain a lot and seemed to only think about herself, but deep down she cared for everyone around her.

The missing member of the family sat on the porch watching the scene in front of him. This was Naruto Namikaze. He was a relatively quiet boy to people that didn't know him, very polite but also shy. On top of that, he showed great intelligence for his age. That was the facade he put up to most people and how he generally acted. When with those he deemed precious, he would occasionally crawl out of his shell and be a typical hyperactive kid **(Regular Naruto just not as obnoxious).**

This was not one of those days. It had started off to seem like it would be one, after all it was his 6th birthday. He had woken up as excited as can be. After struggling to get his clothes on, he raced downstairs for breakfast.

"Kaa-chan, what are we having for breakfast!" He yelled out to his mother before stopping and seeing his mother send a quick glare at him.

"Sorry for yelling, I'm just so excited." He said back, earning a smile from his mom. He then went to sit at the table next to his two sisters.

"Well you should be, it is your guys' 6th birthday." She said while bringing out plates for breakfast. Right then, another figure walked down the stairs and into the room. He gave a quick, pained glance to Kushina, before looking back at the kids with a light smile. He obviously didn't share the excitement for the day that the 3 children had.

Minato sat down at the table before helping himself to some of the breakfast that Kushina had prepared. He tried to calm himself down by listening to the excited babbling of his children, but the pit in his stomach seemed to be growing deeper and deeper. Especially when he heard Naruto's talk of becoming just as great a ninja as his father.

Once the meal was finished, he gave a quick nod to Kushina, prompting her to speak.

"Aiko-chan, Machi-chan, why don't us girls go out to the training. You Tou-san has to talk to Naruto about some yucky guy stuff." This caused Aiko to fake gag before rushing out of the house, followed by a much calmer Machi. Kushina smiled back at the 2 boys, before walking out the door as well.

Minato couldn't bear to look down at Naruto's excited face. After all, guy stuff revolved around being a ninja, saving the day and killing the bad guys. The opposite of what he was about say.

"Naruto, Your mother and I decided it was time to tell you something about you and your sisters. The night you were born, the 9 Tailed Fox attacked the village. To defeat it, we had to split it into 3 and seal it into 3 people. Those were you and your sisters." Naruto's eyes widened in fear.

"Now don't you go thinking you're the 9 Tails, because you're not. Yet, your situation is a bit different. Yours sisters were sealed with the chakra of the 9 tails. The day after the attack, we announced their status as heroes of the village." His eyes revealed that he had already noticed this special treatment. But that didn't explain what was so different about him.

"You got the other side of the bargain, the soul. We decided not to tell the village in fear that they might attack and mistreat you." Naruto accepted this, while a little hurt, it made logical sense. Minato's expression stayed blank, dreading the next sentence.

"Because they have the chakra, we have decided to begin their training earlier than yours." Minato chose to stare directly above the boy, not willing to look at him. "If their chakra got out of hand, it could hurt everyone in the village, including you. We have to insure that their control will never break. This was a hard decision for your mother and I to make. You will join your sisters for training on your 8th birthday." After finishing, he built up the courage to look down at the boy.

There was definitely sadness in his eyes, he was trembling as well. But there were no tears. His fists were clenched tight, but he still stared his father straight in the eye.

"I understand, the safety of the village must come first." Naruto responded. Suddenly, Minato didn't see his 6 year old child in front of him, but a shinobi of the leaf. One bearing the Will of Fire. Relief flooded over him.

Luckily this was Naruto, if it had been Aiko, she probably would've blown up screaming, and then been reduced to tears. If it had been Machi, it probably would've been enough to break her wall and bring about one of her legendary tantrums.

"Thank you for understanding. You will grow into a fine shinobi of the leaf." Minato said before walking to where the girls were waiting. For the first time that day, a true smile reached his lips, after all, he finally got to train his two girls.

 **Intro done.**

 **The names may suck, but I couldnt think of any so I looked up baby names. For this story, I figured Minato just went really hardcore in preparing for his kids, so he planned a seal that would split the fox if it escaped. However, that needed 4 Kage lvl shinobi, so the 3rd and Sannin. If you didn't catch it, I made the balls the fox correspond to the type of chakra. The 1st being really big, the Yang chakra because thats physical. The 2nd being really bright, the spiritual. The 3rd being dark, the soul. I felt pretty proud of that despite it having almost 0 relevance to the rest of the story. If you have any questions, ask.**

 **See Ya.**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is being uploaded at the same time as the first, I just wanted a little separation between the chapters. This chapter starts with his 8th birthday. Without further ado, chapter 2**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

To say the Namikaze household was packed was an understatement. If one didn't know better, they would assume the entire village had come for the party. While that may not have been true, members from every main clan had made it to the gathering. Included in those were Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi.

"Happy Birthday Naruto" Choji called out happily. Unlike most guests, he chose to go and talk to the forgotten Namikaze first. Right behind him followed Shikamaru.

"Happy Birthday Naruto, now, you know any place quieter, the amount of people talking in here is making it quite difficult to take a nap." Naruto nodded at this before walking out of the house and motioning for the others to follow.

They ended up in the middle of the Namikaze training ground. While it was next to the house, the grounds were so big that just by going to the edge of them was far enough away to drown out the noise of the guest. Naruto plopped down under a tree with Choji while Shikamaru sat a little father out with a prime view of the clouds above him.

"Big parties like these are always too troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. Naruto paid no attention to the remark, he was too busy talking to Choji about the start of his training.

"You know, it seemed like this day would never come. I watched my sisters trained everyday, waiting, just waiting for my chance to prove myself." Naruto proclaimed.

"I'm sure you'll do great Naruto. After all, with great teachers like your parents, you'll catch up to them in no time." Choji remarked between chips.

"Maybe after a while, I'll be able to train with you guys too." Naruto said while smiling. The other two had begun training a while ago, a fact which irked continually irked Naruto.

"I don't know why you get all excited for training. It may seem exciting, but all it does is interrupt naps and get you yelled at when you mess something up. Quite a drag if you ask me." Shikamaru muttered.

"I think that's just because you try to sleep in your training Shikamaru!" He just shrugged in response to that. Naruto wasn't wrong.

There wasn't much talking after that. A few quick words about the party here and there, but they mostly just enjoyed the silence. Choji sat contently eating his chips, Shikamaru stared at the sky above himself, and Naruto looked at the field in front of him.

He could see individual gouges in the grounds. See scorch marks and notches. He could even pick out the part of the ground that had to be replaced when Aiko blew it up with an explosive note. He knew practically everything about the training grounds. To compensate for not being able to train, he pushed his intelligence and knowledge regarding the shinobi arts well past what they went over in the academy.

Finally his eyes rested on the most noticeable feature in the grounds. It was a large scarred piece right in the middle. The entirety of it was burned with large claw marks racked across it. He could remember this moment perfectly, it had been perhaps the one time he was grateful to not be training. Because while the demonic chakra seeped out, he felt a deep pull within him. The world around him seemed to slow and his heartbeat drowned everything else out.

Badum, Badum, he could remember hearing a growl, the voice of the-

Before he could think more about it, a voice rang out across the field. It was his mother.

"Naruto, everyone is here. We're opening the first presents." Behind her stood his two sisters impatiently. Aiko had an annoyed look on her face, no doubt mad at her Aniki for taking up so much time.

Naruto ran up with Shikamaru and Choji to get to the door. His family walked in before him and he struggled to catch up to them in the waves of people. As he forced his way to the front, he heard a few calls of Happy Birthdays to his sisters and many compliments. He however got none. It definitely bothered him, but he'd gotten pretty used to it by now. Besides he found it pretty funny when people found out the shy red haired boy was the Hokage's son, they tended to freak out.

Once he broke through the crowd, he noted that his father, mother, sisters, and godfather stood in front next to the table. On it, were two large boxes. No doubt for the twins. He hadn't been expecting a big present like this, his parents often got him less than the other 2. They seemed to know just what they wanted, probably due to them interacting so much during training.

"Everyone quiet down." Minato said to calm the crowd. "We're all gathered here today to celebrate the 8th birthday of my wonderful children. For the first presents, I'd like to give Aiko and Machi these." He said while pushing the presents forward. As they opened them, a big smile appeared on his face.

"Awww, So cool!" Machi yelled out. She first pulled out a new set of equipment (Kunai and that sort of stuff) before reaching out and pulling out a brand new sealing kit. No doubt one that costed a fortune.

"While Sealing is an expensive art, we saved up and decided to buy these for you." Kushina remarked. "With a little help that is." He saw his godfather mutter, earning a punch for Kushina. They spent a while marveling at the gifts before everyone dispersed, leaving Naruto alone again. It seemed they really only wanted to gather the crowds attention for the big surprise presents. Before he could move to find more people, he felt a large hand grab his head and ruffle his hair.

"You didn't think I forgot about you." He turned around to see his godfather grinning down at him.

"Here you go gaki." He tossed a book to Naruto. Immediately earning a fake gag from Naruto.

"I don't need your Pervy Books. I see them enough with Kakashi. Wait till mom hears about this, your dead." Naruto replied with a devilish grin.

"Oh, this isn't one of those books. I'd never get you one of those books, at least not until you mature a bit." He giggled at this, earning a glare from Naruto. He sobered up a bit before continuing.

"Its the first book I wrote. Didn't hit it off on the shelves like my current ones do, but your parents seemed to like it. They even named you after the main character." Jiraiya said while walking away. "Well, Happy Birthday. I have some research I need to attend to."

Naruto paid no attention to the man walking away. He flipped over the book and looked at the title, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. Huh, perhaps it wouldn't be that bad. Jiraiya obviously got it for free as it was his book, but the thought counted more than the price. He pocketed the book before floating around the party trying to find his parents.

He ran into a few people along the way. He saw the Head Uchiha Family and Sasuke, Shikamaru's father, who was talking to Choji;s father and a Yamanaka, and Kakashi. The latter giving him his gift in his usual late fashion. Finally, after seemingly hours of searching, he spotted his fathers yellow hair alone in one of the other rooms.

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

Minato sensed Naruto walking in. He had been keeping an eye on everyone at the party by sensing their chakra. He detected when Kakashi came in late and when Jiraiya left the part early, but he kept a close eye on Naruto the entire time.

After the first presents, the boy seemed to bounce around from place to place, probably searching for him. Guess the news had to come earlier than he would have liked.

"Hey Tou-san," Naruto called out hesitantly. "I was uh, wondering when we could talk about my training," Minato sighed at this before crouching down next to his son. Might as well make it as fast as possible.

"Naruto, we've decided to push back your training till graduation. The girls have just started working on the Foxes chakra. I'm sure you remember the incident. For that to not happen again they need to know sealing first, which your Kaa-san is teaching them. And, well me, things at work are getting tense and I can't even help the girls, let alone you." Minato felt all their reasons we're justified. Kushina had her hands full with sealing, an event like the last couldn't happen, and Minato wasn't lying about work.

He had just narrowly avoided the massacre of the Uchiha Clan while also discovering Danzo's hidden Root. The disbanding of that alone was enough work to keep Minato cooped in the office all day. The sheer amount of children he had found Danzo stole was disgusting. There had been a few the ages of the triplets. One of the young boys was extremely pale and seemed to lack any skill in social interaction.

Besides, it wasn't like they would actually wait till graduation. They figured that if they gave him a date a long way off, they could surprise him by starting it earlier than they promised.

Minato didn't even have time to gauge Naruto's reaction, which was one of devastation, before a voice rang out in the room and it filled with the familiar smell of smoke.

"I could help train Naruto, Minato-san." Next to them in the room was the 3rd Hokage. Unbeknownst to Minato, Naruto was praising Kami at the chance to train, if he couldn't with his parents, his jiji was the next best thing.

"Now this wouldn't be an everyday occurrence, maybe just a few times a week. I could show him a few tricks that will help in the long run." Sarutobi said with his deep, knowing smile.

Minato's eyes narrowed at this. He wouldn't lie and say he liked the idea. The fact that someone else wanted to train his son, even someone that he had the utmost respect for, hurt. He should be the one to train him, help him grow, make him into the best ninja he could be. But when he looked down at Naruto, he saw a deep pleading look. His bright blue eyes expressed how deeply he wanted this.

Minato crumbled. It wasn't often he saw the emotional side of Naruto, he seemed to distance himself more after the girls training started. They saw less of him and weren't as close as they were before. They were still family and deeply cared for each other, but the bond Minato made with the girls seemed to be lacking in Naruto.

"Fine, 3 times a week at most. I don't want you turning him into a Sarutobi, his surname is Namikaze after all." Minato said grudgingly. Hiruzen agreed to this, knowing full well that if Naruto wanted to, he would train him more than 3 times a week, but what Minato didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Naruto, meet me at the Sarutobi training grounds at 8 tomorrow morning." Sarutobi told him, but before he could walk out, he felt a body latch on to him.

"Thanks Jiji, you're the best!" He exclaimed. Minato winched at this. This moment should've been with him, but the welfare of the village had to come first.

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

Naruto waited patiently at the Sarutobi training grounds. He nervously shifted from foot to foot as he surveyed the area around him. There wasn't anything special in the grounds, they had some targets, posts to practice against, and a few trees with a river running next to them. It was noticeably smaller than the Hokage's training ground, but there was something peaceful about it.

Other than that, there were a few benches and a table at the very corner. On top of it sat his lunch. When his mom found out that he was training today she freaked out and quickly prepared the meal for him. Drilling in him that staying hydrated and keeping energy up was just as important as working hard. Suddenly a large breeze swept through the training grounds and the 3rd Hokage appeared, followed by an Anbu Escort.

"Are you ready to train Naruto?" He asked, earning an earnest nod from the boy.

"Good. As you can see, I have quite the talented group of people following me 24/7. Guarding an old man like me is quite the boring job, so I figured I'd add some spice to their lives and have them help you instead." He said, the 2 Anbu behind him didn't react to any of what the old man said.

One of them was a large, burly man. There was nothing particularly defining about him other than salamander mask and a big mane of hair behind it. What made them so interesting was the other Anbu next to him.

He had on a mask of what Naruto could only assume was a Weasel. But that wasn't the important part, what stood out was the size of the man, or should he say teenager. Compared to Salamander, this Anbu seemed like a fresh academy graduate. He didn't have big arms and a wide frame, but a small and lanky body. That however didn't affect the fear factor of the Anbu. If asked, Naruto would say the Weasel Anbu scared him much more.

To a ninja, Deceit was everything. Espionage, assassinations, treaties, all these were full of Deceit. If the man in front of him was Anbu, it wasn't from sheer power like Salamander, it was pure skill.

"They specialize in many different fields. Today I'll introduce you to who will be your main teacher. Weasel," The smaller Anbu with the Weasel mask behind him stepped forward. "Perhaps as an extra game you can try figuring out who they are behind the masks." The old man joked, earning what seemed like a glare from his guard. The former Hokage then backed up to the edge of the training ground and waited for the lesson to begin.

"Many people think ninja training is all flashy jutsu, but those are often the ones that when you try them you end up getting hurt the most. The simplest of skills often yield the greatest results. Now, I'll begin your training focusing on the physical aspect and weapon sides. Once you're proficient with these, we'll focus on more jutsu. Here, throw these at the target." The Anbu said with a surprisingly young voice, so his initial observation had been correct. He then tossed a few kunai to him. Naruto expertly grabbed them, making sure not to cut himself, before turning to face the target.

He let one of his fingers slip into the Kunai and spun it experimentally. He then took a deep breathe, before squaring up to the target and letting the first kunai loose. It sailed forward and embedded itself on the outer edge of the target.

"This is to be expected, just stay calm. Try to keep your entire body loose when you throw. If you stay rigid it will throw your aim off. Again." So Naruto threw another.

"Again" And another.

"Again" Another.

By the time he finished, he was dripping in sweat and his throwing arm's shoulder was throbbing in pain.

"Good Job," Naruto looked up at his instructor warily, good job? He had gotten a decent amount in the center, but nothing worth bragging about.

"Now, as your experiencing now, injury can severely limit the repertoire of attacks a ninja has. Now that your right arm is hurt, its time to work on your left." Naruto raised his eyebrow at this. If his first performance was embarrassing, this one would be dismal.

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

The rest of the morning went like that, he would practice with one arm, then the other, and back and forth. Weasel was a strict sensei, but slowly he could see that he was breaking the cold facade the Anbu always carry around. Weasel had barely said anything after his first introduction, but as the training went on he seemed to speak out and correct more and more mistakes.

"Naruto, many view this art as the basics of a ninja, nothing beyond that. They are fools. If you truly are dedicated to this art, far beyond what most ninja do, you can achieve such things like this." The man threw a shuriken to the far right of the target and closed his eyes. The shuriken seemed to defy physics as it curved and went parallel with the front of the target. And then in a flash the man threw a kunai which found itself in the middle of the target, pinning the shuriken down by its middle hole.

"Most never put in this much dedication, its your choice whether you will. Now, from here I would like to ask you what you want to do. Many ninja specialize in certain tools, however in Anbu we must be proficient in all disciplines." After this he reached into his multiple pockets and pulled out a multitude of ninja tools. He then laid them out in front of him. Luckily Naruto had done his research and could identify a majority of the tools in front of him.

There were senbon needles with some poison, for quick and accurate throwing used to neutralize or assassinate targets. Some explosive tags, but thinking back to the hole Aiko made back home he wasn't sure he completely he trusted the things. There was a spool a ninja wire, hmm, perhaps later. Some smoke and flash bombs, but those were easy enough to learn by himself, no need to waste the Anbu's time with those. Finally he turned his attention to the beautiful sword that was strapped on the Anbu's back.

"How about Kenjutsu?" He asked warily. The man hadn't seemed to offer teaching the skill forward, but trying couldn't hurt.

"Ah, Kenjutsu. All Anbu are required to be especially skilled in this art. Beyond our own individual Jutsu, this is our main specialization. Here, see how it feels." He unsheathed his sword and handed it to Naruto. When he grabbed it, the swords weight felt a little heavy, but it was nothing a little training couldn't solve. He then took a few experimental swings. It sliced through the air easily, yet felt slightly off in his hand.

"I'm not an expert, but perhaps Lord Third could get some of the Anbu more specialized in this art to train you. What I do now is that you must be quick and agile while using a sword, but also having power behind your strikes. For this, we will have to work on your physical endurance and strength." Weasel stated, earning a loud groan for Naruto and a chuckle from Hiruzen

 _-Line Break No Jutsu-_

Naruto's muscles ached as he finally finished his exercise. The training Weasel-sensei had put him through was grueling, far more work than anything else he had done. Perhaps Shikamaru's outlook on life wasn't so bad after all. Training was a drag and a nap sure did sound good now.

"You must find what pushes you to train, what driving force within propels you forward. For some its revenge or personal gain. Only you can discover what truly drives you." Weasel called out.

"And what is it that drives you." Naruto barely choked out between sucking in breathes of air. Without hesitation, Weasel replied.

"The Will of Fire, my family. Perhaps yours could be the same."

Weasel didn't elaborate any more on the topic. The Will of Fire, Naruto was sure he had heard his Tou-san talk about it, but couldn't figure out what it was. But whatever it was, to drive someone like Weasel, it had to be honorable.

Weasel then returned to his post behind the 3rd Hokage, who was walking forward to talk to Naruto.

"Training is a lot harder than you thought, isn't it?" He asked with a little mirth in his voice. Naruto nodded in response, obviously too tired to speak. Hiruzen decided not to tell him that the workout he had went through was many levels harder than most training kids his age did. This was what Naruto had wanted.

"Weasel was right when he said we have a multitude of highly skilled swordsmen in the Anbu. Along with that, we have writings and techniques from samurai and countless others, including my own sensei, the 2nd Hokage. I'm sure you'll grow to become very skilled in that art." This earned a smile from Naruto.

"You can come tomorrow at the same time, I'll have the Anbu find a sword for one your age and strength and request for an Anbu skilled in swordsmanship along with Weasel to train you. You're dismissed." Naruto nodded before slowly walking out of the training grounds.

"Thank you Jiji." Naruto replied before walking out of the grounds.

To say he was tired didn't do any justice to how he felt. His legs ached and every step seemed to shoot pain into his legs. He didn't pay much attention to the village around him as he walked. His eyes stayed glued on the road ahead of him in a dazed state. His thoughts were blank other than that of food and sleep. He didn't even realized he made it home until he nearly walked past the large gates.

He quickly opened them and walked inside, to the site of his mother and sisters sitting at the table practicing drawing fancy squiggly lines over and over again. Kushina quickly noticed the new arrival and gave a worried look after observing at the state he was in.

"What was Hiruzen doing? We asked him to train you, not kill you." At this his sisters too looked up at him and judging by the looks of shock on their face, he must not have looked good.

"Ah, it was nothing." Naruto tried to say while flashing a fake grin, but his mother wasn't having it.

"Nothing huh, I'll have to talk to your father about this when he gets home." She grumbled while grabbing him and inspecting him up and down for any injuries before pushing him upstairs. "Go shower, you need it, trust me."

Naruto quickly undressed and jumped into the shower, immediately feeling the relieving affects of the warm water as it flowed across his body. After a long and enjoyable rinse, he changed into new, fresh clothes and walked downstairs. The girls were still stuck retracing the sealing lines and his mother was still watching over them carefully. His father was no where to be seen.

"So, what exactly was Hiruzen having you do that was so tough." He was about to correct her saying that the Anbu were the ones that were actually helping him train, but he figured that if he told them it would lessen the likelihood that he would be able to continue training. The Anbu were serious, and if his parents freaked out and stopped him from training just because he was a little roughed up, he would be crushed.

"What roughed me up was the conditioning and strength training. Other than that I practiced my shuriken and kunai throwing. The most fun was howeve-" Naruto was about to finish before his mom quickly cut him off.

"Aiko, what are you doing?" She said while smacking the girl on the head. This earned a yelp of surprise from the girl.

"Owwwww, Kaa-chaaan. Whats one little change in the line gonna do." She complained while rubbing her head. Kushina hit quite hard.

"That one little line could be the difference between an explosive note going off like normally or not working at all, or being triggered in a shinobi's pocket without them doing anything." His mom scolded the girl.

"Naruto, why don't we talk about this a little later, I can't be having these two knuckleheads messing up again." She said while hitting Aiko again as if to prove a point.

Naruto deflated at this. Pushed aside again. Sometimes he felt as if his parents didn't even know what happened in his life anymore. Ya they could say he hung around with Shikamaru and Choji, but what about his favorite spot in the village or what his favorite book was? He could bet they wouldn't know.

He grumbled more as he walked up into his bedroom. He shut the door behind him before sitting in his bed and looking at the desk next to it. There was a mirror and at the top corner was a picture of the family from when they were younger. His parents stood behind him and his sisters, and while you could barely see it, his mothers hand had snaked its way to his side and was tickling him. It was obvious in the picture that it annoyed him, but in his eyes was happiness and belonging. Yet, when he looked up at the mirror in front of him and thought about his family. That look was seemed to be a sliver of what it once was.

He thought back to when the fox's chakra emerged at the training ground.

 **"I haven't forgotten my promise Hokage. Your children's lives will be hell"** It growled in Naruto's head. That was the first it he had heard of it, his parents said the soul locked in him wasn't dangerous and the fox had no way of hurting him, but after that. Naruto wasn't sure.

He sighed before grabbing a book on the desk and laying down. He cracked it open to the page he was on last night before finishing the rest of the book that night.

 **So that's it. In case you didn't figure it out, Weasel is Itachi. Thanks for reminding me although I feel kinda stupid for forgetting that. The next chapter will be about the gap between now and Narutos graduation. It will have details about his training and relationships with people like his family and friends. After that one it will be the graduation. I'll try to make sure each chapter has at least 3k words, this one has 4.5k. Thanks for reading, See ya.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back. Shout out to PureInsanity39 and Edo123456 for reminding me that Itachi's mask is Weasel, completely slipped my mind when I was writing this. So, here's the chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Often times the battle was decided in a single moment, an explosive climax. Even the smallest change could give away a strike, display your entire attack to the enemy in the matter of seconds. That why the Uchiha excelled with ninja tools, their ability to study the opponent and survey the scene with an inhuman ability. Predict what was to come by the slightest of movements. All that meant was that he would have to work just that much harder.

A slight tense in the leg was all he needed to see. The purple haired Anbu sprung forward and Naruto had milliseconds to determine his actions. Thrust forward the instant she got in range, ward the strike and counter immediately, or retreat back the moment she closed in. And from each choice came just as many other things to consider. Should he strike forward, would his sword hit first or would she choose to block and counter. Should he ward, would she attack again eliminating the chance to counter or choose to retreat, giving him the chance to strike. Should he back off, would it put him in a detrimental position and limit his mobility in the future.

A sharp whistle pierced his ears as he jumped back. The Anbu had nearly gotten him but instead of continuing forward, she waited. Using this time, he surveyed the grounds around him. Her countless attacks had forced him to a corner. He was closed in by the river to his right and thick forest behind him. The river would surely mean defeat, he couldn't match the Anbu on the water. Same with the forest, the moment he took his eyes of the Anbu to run she would disappear and only reappear with her sword at his neck. But if he waited too long she would force him to choose, so he had to act now.

Noting the distance between them, he charged straight forward and focused his thoughts. 1, 2, 3! The Anbu was right in front of him with her sword slicing down at his face. He quickly brought up his own and but instead of meeting hers above his head, he chose to slash to the left side while jumping to the side to avoid the blade. This caused the Anbu to slip back to avoid his strike. Immediately, he thrust forward forcing another retreat and just like clockwork his plan worked.

The lose dirt the Anbu backed up into gave way and sunk slightly into the river, leaving her to begin to tumble backwards into the river. While he was retreating earlier he had notice a slight give in the ground and figured it would be his only chance.

To finish it, he lunged forward with a boost of chakra and aimed straight into the Anbu. However when his sword almost scrapped the Anbu's armor, she quickly went horizontal, clinging to the side of the edge of the river with chakra. He flew past and she grabbed Naruto by the foot before he flew into the river.

"You almost got me with that one Naruto!" She said with some pride in her voice. "Had I not been using Chakra to steady my footing in the ground before it broke I would've fell back without anyway to avoid your attack" She said while carrying Naruto to their spectators.

"Ya know you can put me down now." Naruto complained, obviously embarrassed. The Anbu gave no indication of hearing him until she reached the others.

"That was an impressive fight Naruto" Complimented the Third Hokage with a smile. It really had been, Naruto had been able to keep up with the Anbu, albeit the Anbu was holding back. Yet, despite the odds Naruto was able to both focus on his surroundings and fighting all while formulating a plan.

"It wasn't that impressive, I still lost" Naruto said disappointingly. Suddenly a voice called out from behind the former Hokage.

"Maa, don't be too hard on yourself. I can't think of many your age that can spar with an Anbu operative." Behind the Hokage stepped out Kakashi.

"Kakashi, when'd you get here?" Naruto asked while burning up in embarrassment. Just his luck, the one time someone came to watch he messed up.

"Halfway through the spar, I had an open afternoon so I figured stopping by might be fun." Kakashi said all while reading his book. Naruto looked at him suspiciously, did his parents make Kakashi come, for as long as he could remember Kakashi was focused on the girls training.

"Don't worry, Anbu-san here told me about this. Did you know I used to be her senpai?" Naruto shook his head no while looking at the Anbu with a new light. It seemed everyone he knew was somehow connected back to his family. Before he could continue, Kakashi spoke up.

"Naruto, I've noticed while you wield your sword with your left hand, your right is doing nothing. Judging by your spar, you can multitask in battle, so perhaps you could incorporate something else into your style. Whether you do or not is up to you, just a suggestion." He said before turning to the Anbu and Hokage.

"Well, duty calls. I can't have Kushina getting mad at me for being too late." He gave a slight wave before disappearing into a cloud of leaves.

Naruto could only stare at where he once was, Kakashi skipped part of training his sisters to see him. Usually the only ones that cared about what he did in training were the Hokage and Anbu. They had been the ones to start his training, and probably the ones he would end with when he became a genin.

"Naruto-kun," The Third Hokage called out. "I might have a few scrolls about unorthodox styles with the sword at my house. I'd be willing to lend them for a while." The Third Hokage said while walking away, beckoning him to follow.

 **-Line Break No Jutsu-**

"Oh, and then Machi tried throwing 3 kunai at once and almost cut off mom's ponytail, she was sooo mad. You should've been there Ni-san" Aiko proudly exclaimed, earning laughter from her parents and a pout from Machi. They then looked expectantly at Naruto to see how funny the story was, but were met with a zoned out look.

"Ni-san?" No response. "Ni-San!" Machi said a bit louder. Suddenly Naruto jerked up and looked around at his family confused.

"Sorry, I just have had a lot on my mind lately." He was thinking back to the scrolls he had read at Jiji's. Each one presented a unique style, but none seemed to match exactly what he was looking for.

There was Maka Nara, who devoted her brilliance to swords and seals. While she wielded a sword like everyone else, she created a seal that she could imprint on any surface with a touch of her finger. Then, when she deemed it time, she was able to detonate the seal like an explosive tag. This could be used to change the landscape or if she got in on the opponent or weapon, eliminate their ability to use kenjutsu.

There were others who utilized their jutsu at the same time with one handed signs, but none seemed to fit right. The closest he found to feeling right was a guy who used explosive tags and spikes to rig the area around him, but by doing so he lacked the ability to control them. It would only be useful if his opponent triggered the trap. What could he do to solve that problem?

"Narutooo, you zoned out again." Aiko called out between mouthfuls of food. This earned a slight snicker from Machi while Minato and Kushina looked at each other concerned.

Machi and Aiko had progressed extremely well with their seal training, and they were proficient in every other aspect of being a ninja, besides genjutsu. What could he say, his entire family was bad at it. Yet when he looked at Naruto, all he could think of was the danger he could be in if he trained with the girls. He couldn't even pay attention when they were eating dinner, and that wasn't even considering his school grades.

Being Hokage, Minato was privy to accessing the school records for each student. He couldn't help but be a little embarrassed when he thought of them. Naruto was in the middle of the class for taijutsu, and close to the top with kunai and shuriken, but anyone could train to be good at that. What was really bad was his coursework, Naruto almost never did homework and did dreadful in all his classes.

So what if Naruto could beat a few civilian kids in Taijutsu, if he faced his sisters, both proficient in the Uzumaki style, he would lose. Not only lose, he would be destroyed. No, it was better for him to get training the former Hokage, even if Minato limited it so much it would barely matter. If he tried to train with his sisters he would only be discouraged.

He was about to ask Naruto more when he felt a presence behind him.

"You are needed in your office Hokage-Sama." He simply nodded, and said a quick goodbye to his family before flashing away.

 **-Line Break No Jutsu-**

A soft snore came from the back of the classroom, quickly followed by a large yelp.

"Shikamaru, what was that for!" Naruto attempted to say in a hushed tone, but everyone could still hear him.

"Naruto, class hasn't even started yet and you're already sleeping. Normally I'd be all for you sleeping, but after what you pulled yesterday, I'd be surprised if Iruka-sensei put up with any of your tricks today." Shikamaru stated with a loud yawn.

"Now if you stay awake and quiet, maybe Iruka will be too surprised with your behavior to notice me sleeping" Shikamaru stated before laying his head down on the desk. As much as Naruto hated it, today was not the day for him to test Iruka-sensei's patience. Especially with what he did yesterday. Naruto smirked and let out a small snicker. He wouldn't be surprised if Iruka walked in today with a slight orange tint to his clothes and hair.

Before he could continue reminiscing of his pranking genius, two loud voices entered the room.

"Well, Aiko. If you'd have used tree oils instead of that cheap store stuff, maybe your hair would have as luscious of a shine as mine." Ino said with a whip of her hair.

"Huh, is that what you really think Ino? I think your just jealous that my family can afford such nice conditioner." Aiko retorted. Seeing as the conversation was going no where, Naruto turned his attention to the rest of his classmates.

Shikamaru had managed to fall asleep in the 30 seconds it took Naruto to watch his sister walk in, and Chouji sat contently beside him eating chips. In front of them sat Sasuke Uchiha.

Noticing Naruto's glance, Sasuke gave a slight smirk and a head nod, before returning his attention to the front of the room. While he'd met Sasuke when he was just a baby, they became friends and then rivals when Sasuke found out his brother was training Naruto. At that point, they made a silent vow to become better to first beat each other, and then Itachi. That last goal might be slightly harder than the first though.

Besides Sasuke sat a shy girl with the weirdest color hair he'd ever seen. It was a shade of bubblegum pink and it rested just above her shoulders. Her name was Sakura. Naruto wouldn't say he was friends with her, they'd only spoken a few words to each other. But Naruto couldn't help but respect her. Unlike the other girls in the class, she seemed dedicated to becoming a ninja. She didn't seem to care about boys as much as the other girls, this was the reason why she sat next to Sasuke. Unlike everyone else, she wouldn't freak out, although Naruto suspected she might have a small crush on Sasuke anyway.

Finally at the end of that table sat Hinata. She was shy like Sakura, but her shyness was on steroids. She didn't like talking to most people and when she did, she had a terrible stutter. Despite that, she was the only girl he could really call friend. He'd met her after he saved her from bullies early in their childhood and after he got past her stuttering and shyness, she was a great friend to have. Insightful and kind, he'd trust her with almost anything.

The rest of the class wasn't too interesting. Kiba was loud, Shino was quiet. Machi talked to Ino, Aiko, and the other girls. In the very back sat a pale white kid named Sai. He had joined a few years back and was an excellent shinobi, although he was lacking a bit on the social side.

"Alright class, everyone turn to page 34..." Naruto tuned out the rest of the speech. As long as he didn't fall asleep and feigned attention, Iruka-sensei wouldn't yell at him. Honestly, a majority of what they talked about was useless.

When he first joined the academy, he had been diligent with notes, but that was before Shikamaru blessed him with a tidbit of knowledge.

"The classwork doesn't matter. You can pull a C off on the test without any prior knowledge if you're smart enough, which you are. If you then take in the practical scores, kunai and taijutsu, and do average and/or well, you can pass the academy in the middle of the pack. So here, instead of taking all those notes, just take a nap instead."

For someone so lazy, he seemed to have put a lot of thought into being lazy. Naruto couldn't complain though, Shikamaru's observation had gained him extra hours for much needed sleep. Instead of studying for tests or paying attention in class, he could do whatever pleased him at the time.

When it came to practicals, he could easily boost his grade up to passing. His taijutsu was average, not on the level of any clan trained kids, but good enough. Besides, he'd never be in a pure taijutsu match. He'd be able to use his sword, which was banned by the academy.

And for kunai and shuriken, there was only so much one could do. They were tested based on how many they could hit out of 20. The target was stationary and they had all the time they wanted. So on paper he was tied for top of the throwing weapons, despite his excellence in the skill. It didn't matter if he could throw 5 in each hand and finish all 20 in the time it took most to do 3. They just had to hit the target. So a student who took 10 seconds with each throw would rank the same as him.

It didn't bother Naruto much though, scores in the academy didn't mean anything in the ninja world. That was the lesson he took from his training, not calculating the trajectory of a kunai in the wind, but knowing that that 1 kunai could mean life or death.

Naruto's eyes drifted around looking for anything of interest, Shikamaru was still sleeping, Sakura was taking notes, hell, even Sai was reading a book to pass the time. It seemed everyone but him knew what they wanted to do. He gazed out the window in hopes to find something interesting. A small spider web adorned the top of the window, and a small bug flew lazily by it. Before anything could happen, Shino walked up behind him and grabbed the bug.

"Spiders, interesting creatures. Why you ask? Because their ability to create such intricate traps." Shino stated, earning a nod from Naruto and sparking an idea in his brain.

A trap. A web. Each strand just as important to the structure. Perhaps he could do something like this with an alternative. Nothing he could think of would have the sticky properties of the web, but problems like that could be solved later on. Ninja wire would have to do, but he'd need a contraption to hold the web.

He quickly went to work grabbing a scratch sheet of paper and scribbling basic designs down. Before he knew it, he had a basic idea written down and class was over.

"Hey Naruto, I was wondering if you-" Shikamaru started to ask before getting interrupted.

"Can't talk now. You know what, just tell me tomorrow, I'll be open then. See ya." Naruto said while running out the door, leaving everyone shocked in his wake.

 **-Line Break No Jutsu-**

"Hmm, a design like this is interesting, did you say you thought of it yourself?" The weapons master asked while studying the drawing Naruto had handed him.

"Ya, I was thinking a device I could strap to my arm and it would dispense ninja wire when I want it to. Although it would have to sleek enough to not draw attention to it." The man nodded after it.

"Unorthodox, yes. But it could work." The man said with a grin. "Come back next week and I should I have it completed by then. I assume you'll want this charged to his parents?" Naruto nodded feeling a little guilty. A device like this was expensive and had to be made from scratch. However, he had accumulated money from his past birthdays when his parents didn't know what to get him. They said whenever he wanted something he could just put it on their check.

Up till now he had just used it on spare tools like kunai or food. Hopefully they wouldn't pay too much attention to what he bought. For now however, he just had a spool of wire to work with.

He shuffled his way out of the store and entered the streets of Konoha. The street had an energetic buzz as all around him citizens and ninja alike talked and bought things. Naruto liked this atmosphere. Unlike when he walked around with his family, no one seemed to mind him. No one stopped to bow to the Hokage or give presents to the honored saviors of Konoha. There wasn't a dead silence as everyone focused on his family in front of him.

Now, Naruto could walk freely and enjoy the village in peace. If someone did happen to recognize him, which rarely happened, he would politely talk to them before disappearing again.

Slowly he managed to weasel his way to a training ground near his house. Luckily, no one was there, so he could work in peace. He brought out the wire and uncoiled some wire.

It was extremely thin and when laid down in the grass it was invisible. He then took his sword in one hand and the wire in the other. He mock spared with an invisible opponent, pushing them into specific areas when he wanted to lay the wire down.

The fake battle kept going with Naruto dipping and diving into new positions while carefully setting the wire down beside him. After a while, he turned his attention to tall pole in the middle of the grounds. Till now, he had wired his entire trap to converge on that single spot. He tentatively held up his wire and pulled it as hard as he could.

The trap sprung forward and the pole was quickly covered in layers of wire. He hadn't wired up any traps yet, but he had managed to multitask and lay the trap while also sparring.

He gave a few more strong tugs to see if the trap would hold, before coiling the wire back up. This was a good start, while any competent ninja could substitute out of the situation, it was a strong basis. He would just have to keep working on it till it became second nature.

 **Ya so this is it. Sorry I took so long, I'm pretty lazy. This chapter was 3.3k words. Thanks for reading.**

 **See Ya.**


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